Posted by Hal on December 01, 1998 at 09:54:52:
In Reply to: Re: Get excited... it's QUESTION TIME!!!!!!!!!! posted by Derf on November 28, 1998 at 11:34:10:
: Will more creative people appreciate more things? In a way, I would like to think so. But remember that Chopin hated Berlioz, and Nietzsche hated Plato, and Shaw wasn't too crazy about Shakespeare. We all have our own tastes. Also, I believe that with an open mind, certain things that were once lost on you begin to touch your sensibilities. To Cindy: maybe your boss's work will begin to "sink in" one day, and its merits, however meager, will be caught by your eye. Maybe his work represents a philosophy in the language of emotion or intellect that you are, in a broad sense, resolutely against, and therefore your inhibitions refuse to let you appreciate the work on its own terms.
: Then again, maybe these "awards" and "laurels" that he has been receiving are nothing more than recognitions of some purely technical ability, and his popularity rests on the people who are in awe of his work's production values, and who find little to appreciate beyond that.
: Nobody has unimpeachable taste except *time*.
I'm so excited about the question!!!
It could be that you have some bias against you boss and his work. I guess I'd have to see it and judge its creativity (or lack thereof) for myself to form an opinion, but I tend to trust you when you say that his work has little artistic merit.
There are some other possibilities. As Derf suggested, maybe the awards are not for creativity or vision, but for technique, or achievement (of something), or popularity--it seems that most awards are based more on popularity than anything else. In any consumer market (and even art falls under this) it's not the most innovative, creative, or best products that are successful. Inferior product with the best marketing, that are in the right place at the right time with the right perception, are the ones that succeed.
Also, while I hate to sound so arrogant, it seems that most people just don't appreciate or understand creative art, photography, or anything else. If you look at the TV shows and movies out today, I'm sure we would agree that most of them are crap, but they do very well in the marketplace. As I see it, they play down to the lowest common deniminator, and people eat it up. I don't think there is a such thing as "bad creative", but these types of things are just uncreative. They are designed to appeal to a certain market, and at that they succeed very well. When this same market gives out awards, guess who gets them? Not the creative artists who's work is greatly admired by a few, but the ones who got their work on everyone's minds and into everyone's home.
Life is just unfair for us idealistic 4's who know what's right. :-)
- Hal -